Subhechcha Ganguly 
After numerous activists opposed caste discrimination, arguing that it has no distinction from other forms of discrimination like racism and should therefore be outlawed, Seattle’s local council voted to include caste in its anti-discrimination laws, making it the first city in the world to do so outside of South Asia. “The fight against caste prejudice is profoundly tied to the fight against all forms of oppression,” Indian American Seattle City Council member Kshama Sawant remarked. “Caste discrimination does not only occur in foreign nations,” she continued. It is a problem that South Asian Americans and other immigrants deal with at work, particularly in Seattle’s and other American cities’ tech industries.
“The fight against caste prejudice is profoundly tied to the fight against all forms of oppression,” Indian American Seattle City Council member Kshama Sawant remarked. “Caste discrimination does not only occur in foreign nations,” she continued. It is a problem that South Asian Americans and other immigrants deal with at work, particularly in Seattle’s and other American cities’ tech industries.
Contrarily, Suhag Shukla, co-founder and executive director of the Hindu American Foundation (HAF), stated: “The City of Seattle has voted to treat South Asians in a manner that no other ethnic or racial community is treated under the guise of non-discrimination. This includes treating South Asians along with other Southeast Asians and Africans. It has voted in favour of discriminating against racial and ethnic minorities, carrying on the ugly traditions of nativists from nearly a century ago.
